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Mariah Carey’s die-hard fans are wondering if the iconic diva and her younger boyfriend Bryan Tanaka have gone their separate ways.
The 54-year-old singer and the 40-year-old backup dancer sparked rumors of a breakup after her concert on Wednesday night at the Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland, California.
Bryan regularly showed off his dance moves during her shows more than a decade ago, but audience members shared on social media that they noticed he was nowhere to be seen.
Others felt that Mariah – who will give her modern holiday classic All I Want For Christmas Is You its awards show debut at the Billboard Music Awards – looked glum, with some complaining about her perceived low-energy performance.
Adding to concerns about a possible rift was Bryan’s total absence from the hitmaker’s Instagram profile since December 2022.
Trouble in paradise? Mariah Carey’s die-hard fans shared their concerns that she and her boyfriend Bryan Tanaka may have split after her Christmas concert on Wednesday
MIA: Eagle-eyed fans noticed he was missing from her dance ensemble, despite being a big part of her tours dating back more than a decade
“We need Bryan Tanaka back!” wrote one person on X (formerly known as Twitter) after reposting a video of Mariah’s casino performance.
She was dressed in a sparkling red sequined bodysuit that highlighted her legs and featured plump shoulders and gold epaulettes.
There was no sight of her friend when she started singing the introduction to her eternal Christmas hit All I Want For Christmas Is You.
As she sang, she moved to the front of the stage taking small, robotic steps and barely moving her upper body.
She also didn’t appear to be smiling as widely as in some previous performances, with some moments in the clip even revealing a tense expression.
“I don’t see Bryan Tanaka. Where is he?’ added another concerned fan in response to a wider-angle clip that showed more of her backup dance ensemble.
“She looks depressed, like something is going on behind the scenes…” another fan speculated.
Mariah’s last Instagram post with Bryan appears to be from December 26, when the two beaming lovebirds posed cheek-to-cheek to celebrate Boxing Day.
She also added a sweet photo of her 12-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe, who she shares with her ex-husband Nick Cannon.
She and the Wild ‘N Out host were married from 2008 to 2016.
Bryan’s last post with Mariah was a black and white photo he shared on March 27 to celebrate Mariah’s birthday (which she calls her anniversary).
‘This is one of my favorite photos. Ever,” he wrote, although it was not clear whether the photo was taken that day or was older. “Happy birthday, my beautiful queen. 3/27 .’
Bryan hasn’t shared a single post on his Instagram since June 19, leading some to speculate about his fate in the comments of videos of Mariah’s latest performance.
By her side: Tanaka has been dancing on Mariah’s tours since 2006, according to Page Six; seen September 2022 in NYC
Fan Reactions: Several fans wondered about Bryan’s apparent absence, while others thought the diva looked glum
The end? Mariah’s last Instagram post with Bryan appears to be from December 26, when the two beaming lovebirds posed cheek-to-cheek to celebrate Boxing Day
That’s all she wrote: Bryan’s last post with Mariah was a black and white photo he shared on March 27 to celebrate her birthday, although it wasn’t clear if the photo was taken on that day.
He and the Always Be My Baby singer began their professional relationship when he joined her as a backup dancer on her Adventures of Mimi tour in 2006.
“There used to be something connected between us and just a mutual admiration,” he said E! News in 2016. ‘She saw something in me that I didn’t recognize at first, from that moment on it was over. It was a given in history that we would be connected in some way.”
In 2016, Mariah ended her engagement to James Packer, and soon after, she and Bryan started a new relationship. The two seemed to confirm they were dating when they were spotted showing PDA on the beach over Thanksgiving weekend that year.
Although they briefly split in 2017, they were back together later that year and have shown a loving, albeit low-key, relationship ever since.